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Allergic reaction to the Lyme vaccine

Boy, it's been quite the evening. My vet and I have always been very careful when it comes to the vaccination schedule for Maisie as she has some immune and allergy issues that are beautifully under control with a special diet. She has Ulcerative Eosinophilic Stomatitis. We give one vaccine at a time and stagger them so that they're two at least 2 weeks apart. I took Maisie to a 4:40 pm appt today to get her last vaccine - the Lyme. I do live in an area where ticks are abundant. Several hours after getting the vaccine, she was not herself. She didn't want to get up, she was hiding in another room and didn't come to greet us as she usually does - with tail wagging and lots of kisses. So, off the the 24 hour emergency vet we go. I just knew she was very off. Upon examination, the vet touched the area where she had been vaccinated and she reacted in severe pain. I almost lost it. She was then given heavy duty pain meds which causes excessive panting and rapid breathing. My 10 yr old daughter then proceeded to get a bloody nose in the waiting area ( when it rains, it pours!) Needless to say we got home just after midnight and she is still in a fair amount of pain. My heart is breaking for her. She squeals every time she has to move. The ER vet suggested that we avoid the Lyme disease vaccine in the future as long as she's on a flea and tick color. I always do a tick check when we come in from outside as well. So, this was my adventurous evening. Just praying that she finds some relief soon.

Oh good grief -- what a horrible evening for you and your daughter and Maisie! I hope she (and all of you) are doing much better today. The vet's suggestion sounds appropriate -- sounds like a great vet. Assume they also have you on the every three year schedule for core vaccines anyway as they do not need to be given every year? Nicki recently posted a good article on titers as well on Facebook -- I'll crosspost to here if I can find it or maybe she will see this, but with a dog that has reacted to a vaccine, I'd be extra cautious to minimise all vaccines and work from titers perhaps rather than a set schedule. A lot of dogs are fine for life after the puppy vax and 1-year booster for core vaccines.

Karlin, thanks for your concern. She is definitely better today but still uncomfortable and exhausted From the ordeal. I will be giving her pain meds for the next 5 days or so. I was very impressed with the care she received at the emergency vetinerary hospital. My regular vet called first thing morning to check in and I'm definitely planning on discussing the entire vaccine issue with her. I will print out the titer article when I find it and bring it with me. The information and support I got from this forum is invaluable. Thank you.

~~~The data sheet provided by vaccine companies gives vets the freedom to decide the frequency with which they recommend vaccines – but is your vet a specialist in veterinary immunology? If not, they may not have the information required to make these decisions.~~~

~~~The data sheets also state that vaccines should ONLY be given to healthy dogs.~~~

For those in the UK
***ALL UK vets should know****, their own national vet organisation as well as DEFRA advises they follow the WSAVA guidelines for vaccinations. This is directly from the WSAVA vax guidelines for vets: "Vaccines should not be given needlessly. Core vaccines should not be given any more frequently than every three years after the 12 month booster injection following the puppy/kitten series, because the duration of immunity (DOI) is many years and may be up to the lifetime of the pet." This has been their advice for nearly seven years!!

There is lots of info on www.canine-health-concern.org.uk site, also look at http://www.petwelfarealliance.org some of the info is really quite shocking eg http://www.petwelfarealliance.org/ex...-vaccines.html. How many vets routinely vaccinate for leptospirosis? The wsava cautions that it should be used only if there is a serious disease threat in the area ### not just because there are lots of rats### Leptospirosis is a rare disease, and the vaccine is associated with severe adverse reactions, especially neurological (brain damage). Small dogs are at greatest risk from this vaccine. Further, there are hundreds of strains of leptospirosis, and only two or three in a vaccine, so the vaccine isn’t terribly protective.

They are running a campaign to end over vaccination http://www.petwelfarealliance.org/ca...ccination.html "There are no studies to show that annual boosters are ever indicated or that there is any science to support annual vaccines to boost an animal’s immune system." Quote from vet Dr Stephen Blake. From previous research it seems that vaccine companies used the concept of annual vaccination as a good way for vets to get clients in for a regular examination - it gradually became common practice, and we were led to believe that we were negligent if we weren't vaccinating annually.

~~~Every cavalier should have at least an annual health check whether you vaccinate or not - once they are over 7, this should be at least every 6 months.~~~

Thank you so much for this info. I plan to educate myself and then have an informed discussion with my vet. Maisie is feeling a lot better but still not back to normal yet. The area where she received the shot is still inflamed and if she moves the wrong way, I notice she gets uncomfortable. I'm continuing with the pain meds and will take her in for a recheck if necessary. Thanks for all your support. It's so hard to see them in pain!

I hope Maisie is back to normal by today. It's so hard to see them not feeling well - especially when it's something that you did that caused them to feel so rotten, even though you did it with the best intentions. My daughter's temps always shot up to 104 degrees when she got her DPT shots, so we stopped giving them to her. Then she just got the dT and her temp went up to 105. Figured out she was allergic to the diphtheria not the pertussis part of the vaccine. Now we have to special order plain tetanus vaccine. She has an autoimmune disease so I don't know what part that has to play in all this. Sure hope Maisie is feeling back to herself today. Love her name by the way.